New York: The Tale Of Master Jack Dawson
by itsjustkirby
Summary: This piece is an alternate ending/sequel to my other Titanic fanfic 'Titanic: The Tale Of Master Jack Dawson'. Set in New York after the sinking of the Titanic, Jack tries to deal with the aftermath of losing the Titanic and his true love.
1. The Aftermath

**This piece is an alternate ending/sequel to my other Titanic fanfic 'Titanic: The Tale Of Master Jack Dawson'. For those who would like a brief summary, Jack and Rose are role swapped. Jack Dawson is a first class passenger set to marry Catherine Hockley, however upon meeting Rose, a third class maid, his perceptions and ideas of love are drastically altered.**

 **I plan for this to be a much more regularly updated and longer piece, containing more development for characters in the movie. It will be set in New York after the sinking of the Titanic and will focus on Jack as he tries to deal with the aftermath of losing the Titanic and his true love. This deviates from the timeline of the movie and therefore will not transition back to old Jack as he tells Lovett and Bodine his tale.**

 **I have recently started up a page, a site used to grant funding through the form of pledges so artists can make some income for their works. My writing has been and always will be free. However if you have liked my work and wish to donate to my cause as well as contribute to the future of my writing, please visit my page from my profile. More information will be provided there.**

 **For one off donations please visit my digital tip jar which can also be found on said profile page.**

 **Thank you and enjoy.**

 _The bow had been submerged completely and was pulling the stern back with it. Jack assessed the situation and instructed Rose and Tommy to climb over the rail, knowing the ship was about to be pulled vertical. The Titanic did just that, following the bow slowly into the depths._

 _"Listen to me Rose, take a deep breath and hold it right before we go into the water. The ship will suck us down. Kick for the surface and keep hold of my hand" shouted Jack._

 _He felt the responsive squeeze and heard the words "I trust you Jack"._

 _The three of them faced the ocean that was rushing toward them, the other passengers being swallowed before them. The ship was about to disappear completely, the rush of water sounding like the galloping of a thousand horses. "Now!" yelled Jack right before he inhaled.  
_

 _With that the water hit him with its icy touch, causing pain to ripple through his entire body._

The water pulled at Jack's body with great force, and he found himself losing grip of Rose. He grabbed desperately in the water, hoping to reconnect with her but her hand was nowhere to be found. Jack surfaced and gasped, allowing the cool air to fill his lungs. He was surrounded by people, their cries deafening like a thunder of fear. Far off in the distance came the faint glow of torches, but the lifeboats were not coming any closer.

Jack looked around at the dead bodies that bobbled beside him like corks and frantically began searching for what he had lost.  
"Rose! Tommy!" But his cries were drowned out by the collective screams of the dying. Jack knew he had to act fast, before he had to surrender to hypothermia like some of the people around him. He swam towards floating debris and clambered onto what looked like a stateroom door. Clinging to the side was one of the ship's crewman with a lanyard strung around his neck. Attached was a silver whistle, but even that wouldn't be loud enough to compete with the distressed pleas of the victims around him. Jack took a moment to breathe and then continued to call out for Rose and Tommy. Exhausted and fearing the worst, Jack curled up carefully and closed his eyes and prayed he'd wake up from this nightmare.

Unsure of how much time had passed, Jack's eyes snapped open as he sat upright. The silence that now surrounded him was more unsettling than the cries he heard before. It seemed the likelihood to find Rose or Tommy, or even to survive, was impossible. Jack despondently reflected on his brief time with Rose and how he'd never fulfil any of the dreams they shared. His thoughts were interrupted by a voice that carried across the empty air.

"Is there anybody out there?" came the bellow beyond Jack's field of vision. Jack turned hurriedly to the crewman who was still frozen to the door and grabbed the lanyard. He pressed his shivering lips to the cold metal and blew as loudly as he could, hoping it was enough to attract the attention of one of the lifeboats.  
"Over here!" yelled a voice as the floodlight swang around and illuminated Jack. Relief flooded Jack as the wooden lifeboat rowed slowly towards him, and stopped beside the door. He used all the strength he could muster to take Officer Lowe's hand and board the boat. He was cloaked with a blanket and then with the assistance of Officer Lowe, he found a seat.  
"How many have been rescued from the water?" asked Jack through chattering teeth.  
"Only five so far" replied the officer ashamedly, his shoulders drooping.  
All Jack could offer was a small nod, fatigued from the ordeal. In the night, on the now still black sea, Jack saw one more lifeboat paddling towards the wreckage. Out of twenty of the lifeboats, only two came back. A tear rolled silently down Jack's face as he buried himself in his blanket and waited for whatever was to come next.

After what seemed like an eternity, Officer Lowe let out an excited yell and lit up a flare. As golden light bathed the boat, Jack unhooded himself and saw a large ship approaching. The lifeboats began to pull up beside the ship, which was labelled in fancy white cursive as the RMS Carpathia. The sun was starting to rise, illuminating their saviour ship and the people on it. Some of the survivors had already been brought aboard and were watching to see who else made it. The lifeboat that Jack was on approached the ship and a rope ladder swang down. Officer Lowe helped Jack and the one other survivor on the boat get to their feet and up the ladder. The crewmen pulled Jack on board and offered him fresh blankets. He then took to the line of people who were being processed.

"What's your name sir?" asked a crewman as Jack gladly accepted a hot cup of tea.  
"Jack. Jack Dawson" he said between sips, his hands shaking.  
The blanketed figure in front of Jack stopped, turned around and grinned. Jack nearly choked on his tea.  
"Tommy? How did you survive?"  
"Luck of the Irish, that and all the whiskey I drank beforehand" smiled Tommy weakly. Jack laughed happily as they both headed towards the same door.  
"Mister Dawson sir, first class is this way" interrupted the crewman, gestured with his hand.  
"He's not going back there, right boyo?"  
Jack hadn't really thought about it. As much as he never wanted to see Catherine again, he at least wanted to check on his mother and to see Molly Brown. Now that Rose was gone, where else could he turn to?  
"Of course" said Jack numbly following the crewman's direction.  
"You've got to be kiddin me, so much for all that talk about leaving that life behind for Rose" growled Tommy.  
Jack avoided Tommy's glare and shifted uncomfortably on his feet as another crewman came over to escort Tommy to steerage. None of that mattered now that Rose was gone.

The door to the first class deck swag open and Jack was once again surrounded by familiar faces. John Jacob Aster's wife Madeline wept into the arms of Molly, who excused herself upon meeting Jack's gaze.  
"Thank the Lord you're safe sonny" she said, taking him into her arms. He hugged back and cried into her shoulder.  
"I don't think Rose made it. We tried to make it through together but I lost her" he wept unashamedly.  
"I'm sorry Jack, she was a beautiful young lady," she said, wiping her eyes then lowering her voice to a whisper "I was hoping that you'd know better than to come back to this crowd."  
"I know, I just needed to make sure Mother was okay."  
"Sonny, some paper and a pen please" called out Molly as she snapped her fingers at the crewman that led Jack in. He returned promptly and Molly took a sheet of paper and wrote on it quickly, thanking the crewman and dismissing him.  
"If you ever need anything come visit my hotel in New York. Even if I'm not there, you are always welcome there. You're like a son to me Jack."  
He read over the address and nodded, slipping the paper into his pocket.  
"I will, thank you Molly" he said, hugging her once more to say goodbye and with that she made her way back to Madeline Astor.

Jack rounded a corner to see Ruth and Catherine sipping tea on a bench, with Trudy fixing their blankets to keep their shoulders covered.  
"Master Jack!" Trudy exclaimed in surprise, rushing to his side to escort him to a seat.  
Catherine and Ruth looked up in unison, their jaws dropping in disbelief.  
"Jack, you're alive" stuttered Catherine, standing up to embrace him. His mother uncharacteristically held him in her arms and cried. Throughout it all Jack stood numbly, unsure if he had made the right choice in coming back to his old life.  
"Do you recall seeing my father on the ship?" inquired Catherine with a hint of suspicion, taking a step back to observe him. His skin was as pale as chalk; his hair had become matted and wild.  
"Was that before or after you sent him to hound me down?" replied Jack coolly.  
"Oh Jack don't look so glum, let's just let bygones be bygones and move forward with our lives" said Catherine, stroking his face with exaggerated tenderness. Jack looked into her watery eyes, and knew that there was very little authenticity in her tears.  
Ruth took both of their hands and held them in hers, smiling at the pair of them.  
"Precisely. The marriage can go ahead as planned and we can soon forget this whole ordeal."  
Ruth turned to comfort Catherine as Jack sat beside them, unsure of how he could ever move forward now that he had resumed his old life with these people.

As the evening approached, Jack excused himself and hurried to the steerage deck where he searched desperately for Tommy.  
"Look who came crawling back" sneered Tommy, obviously still angry from Jack's earlier decision.  
"I had to check on them Tommy, they're all I have left now."  
"What about the life you wanted Jack. Or does that mean nothin' now? Did Fabrizio mean nothin'? Do I mean nothin'? Does Rose mean nothin'?"  
"Rose meant everything to me."  
"She's gone Jack" Tommy replied gruffly. "Maybe it's best you go back to all you have left."

Jack nodded solemnly and silently left the steerage area, feeling more alone than he ever had before.


	2. Making It Count

Days on the Carpathia felt more like years to Jack. When he left steerage three days ago, he felt he had left himself behind. Catherine and Ruth didn't understand his misery, so they ordered him to go to the infirmary and obediently he did. It all felt like déjà vu, Jack once again felt like his life wasn't his own anymore. After an evaluation from the nurses, it was put down to shock and nothing more was said on the matter.

But on the 18th of April, the Carpathia pulled into the New York port. Jack leaned on the railing and casted his eyes to the Statue Of Liberty. He remembered Fabrizio excitedly rambling about it and instantly his heart sunk. When Jack got off this ship, none of that would even matter. He'd have to go about the life he chose without thinking of Fabrizio, Tommy or Rose. Jack joined the rest of his crowd as they flocked to the other side of the ship. The magnesium flashes of cameras twinkled below them as a large group of easily thirty thousand had gathered at the docks. When the ship stopped, they all began to evacutate the boat, happy to be back on solid ground. Jack dragged his feet behind Ruth and Catherine as they took in the attention as if they were Hollywood stars. He placed his hands in his pockets and remembered the piece of paper that Molly had given him. As if it were destiny, at that exact moment a woman jumped over the barriers to greet a man in front of Jack. Chaos ensured and quickly the crowd overtook authorities.  
"Jack?" came Ruth's call as she saw him run off past the barriers into the streets of New York. But he didn't look back, his feet matching the wild pace of his heart as he escaped his former self.

When he was a comfortable distance away, Jack found the piece of paper in his pocket and read it out loud with trembling hands.  
"Hotel Metropole, 147 West 43rd Street."  
Jack knew he'd be safe there, Molly would never force him to make amends with Ruth or Catherine. He headed there quickly, hoping not to be found by his mother or his ex-fiancé. The roads were relatively quiet for such a bustling city, motor cars drove alongside horse drawn carriages and people walked quickly, dressed for the lovely spring day. Finally reaching his destination, Jack looked at the grand building that stood before him. The Hotel Metropole was as big and as glamorous as Mrs. Brown herself, the decorations and details within the lobby alone were luxurious and intricate. Jack ran his fingers through his hair and exhaled sharply, then made for the front desk.

"Can I help you sir?" came the receptionist's reply, as she eyed Jack's scraggly attire. He remembered that he didn't look like a first class lad anymore, given the trauma he had endured.  
"Yeah I'm here to see Molly, I mean Margaret Brown" he replied politely, resting his hands on the counter.  
"Is she expecting you, Mister- ?"  
"Dawson, Jack Dawson ma'am. And I imagine she will be, when she gets back from the circus at the docks."  
The receptionist looked sceptical but invited Jack to have a seat anyway. He gratefully accepted and sat beside the roaring fireplace. He found a newspaper and picked it up, seeing the headline about the Titanic's sinking splayed across the front page. His stomach turned as he read of the number of people who didn't survive, and saw a list of people hoping to find their missing friends and family. The words 'Dewitt Bukater' jumped out of the page and Jack's heart stopped. Rose's parents were looking for any information on her; they wanted to know if their daughter had survived the tragedy.

Jack continued reading on, getting angrier at the ineptitude of the White Star Line. His sudden anger was interrupted by the flashes of cameras as Molly Brown entered the hotel. The receptionist briskly walked to the door alongside a concierge member whom quickly collected her coat.  
"Miss Brown, there is a man here to see you. He looks a little wild, should I escort him off the premises?"  
Molly rounded the corner and took a look at Jack and grinned.  
"You'd look like that too Miss Arlington, if you just survived a shipwreck."  
Jack placed the paper down and crossed over to Molly.  
"I had a feelin' you'd be here, your mother and Catherine have been very vocal in their concerns about your disappearance."  
Jack shook his head, and felt like these people would never leave him alone.  
"Please Molly, you can't let them know I'm here."  
"I wouldn't dream of it sonny. You're welcome to stay here for as long as you need."  
Jack stood there like a small, lost child and it was clear to Molly how much he needed somebody in his life to help him get through his grief.  
"How about we have some tea?" she suggested softly, offering her arm to Jack.  
"I'd love that" he smiled, taking her arm.

The two of them sat in a silence eating their scones and drinking fresh tea. Molly was the first to break the silence as she wiped crumbs from her mouth.  
"What happened once you got back on the Titanic?" she inquired, "if you don't mind me asking Jack."

"Nathan Hockley got Rose locked up for something she didn't do. He bet me there and we had an altercation. Rose struck him with a chair and killed him."  
Molly's eyes went wide as she took in this information.  
"It was an accident, Rose was only protecting me" he continued, taking time to light up a cigarette. "We tried to get back but it was beginning to flood, so we went to find Rose's friends in steerage. The officers wouldn't let third class passengers out until all of the first class had been taken care of."  
Molly shook her head in disbelief, and lit up a cigarette herself.  
"I saw a boat with only twelve in it Jack. Those boats could have held more, I tried to get them to go back but they wouldn't. The suction would have taken us if the people in the water didn't."  
Jack already knew this from the figures he saw in the newspaper, his hands were sore from being bunched into fists.  
"It's not your fault Molly. It was the White Star Line's fault. The staff was getting swamped with passengers, one of our friends was pushed forward in the crowd and Murdoch shot him down."  
Jack shivered a little, remembering the glassy look in Fabrizio's eyes as he bled out onto the deck.

"The ship started tilting, so Rose, Tommy and I made for the rails before the floor got too steep. We watched the sea come towards us, we faced the sea and knew it was going to take us under."  
Jack took a sip from his tea, gulping as he tried to get the last of his story out.  
"Rose and Tommy were nowhere to be seen. I made for a floating door and stayed on it until rescue came. I was one of six saved from the water, Tommy was another. Rose was not."  
Molly took a drag from her cigarette and asked him softly "are you sure she didn't make it Jack?"  
He hesitated in answering, recalling his encounter with Tommy and the revelation that she didn't make it. He had gone back to the steerage deck himself and looked for Rose, but she wasn't among the survivors.  
"Rose is gone. And I wish I was gone too."  
Molly stood up and clipped Jack on the ear to his surprise.  
"Now listen here sonny," she said in an unusually serious tone "I won't sit here and pretend that you didn't lose a lot. I know that Rose was a special girl. But you survived for a reason, not many passengers of the Titanic can say that they did. Make it count Jack."  
Jack looked up at Molly with a grin and nodded, drying his eyes with his sleeve.  
"Will you help me Molly?"  
She laughed and ruffled his hair with a warm smile.  
"Of course I will."


End file.
